Imaginative and Creative Kids’ Ministry

When was the last time you used your imagination? Reflect on this question seriously. Don’t move on until you have an answer. How long ago was it? Did it have anything to do with your faith?

Art, story, and play are important for every age

Scripture is filled with ripe opportunities for imagination. Children are often better at accessing and using their imagination than adults. This is one area where the church could follow the lead of children as disciples of Jesus together. Art, story, and play are all mediums for imagination and creativity, and these practices are not unique to childhood. People of all ages and various abilities can participate in some way in practices involving art, story, and play. These provide a great opportunity to engage intergenerationally and to help people grow as holistic followers of Jesus.

Imagine & create through art

Art offers excellent opportunities for kids and adults to engage in play together. Remember that exercising imagination and creativity is the goal rather than the end product. Here are a few ways kids and adults can imagine and create together through art. These suggestions will work well as rainy day activities for kids and parents or as intergenerational small group or sunday school activities.

• Make a drawing or painting of the story or a favorite part of a Bible story.
• Reflect and respond to classic or modern artwork inspired by Bible stories.
• Use a method like praying in color to create visual prayers.
• Create a collaborative art project that responds to a passage of scripture or celebrates a season of the church year.

Imagine & create through story

Story is another place where adults and kids can use imagination and creativity to connect relationally. There is great value in sharing both Bible and faith stories across generations. Whether you are gathered around the table for a holiday meal, looking through family photo albums, or sharing a meal in a church setting, a little bit of intentionality can turn a normal activity into a rich opportunity for faith storytelling.

• Writing a skit or retelling of a Bible story
• Connecting biblical ideas or concepts to moments from real-life
• Sharing faith stories with one another
• Sharing photos or mementos of important life experiences
• Creating visual representations of a community’s identity and life together

Imagine & create through play

Keep in mind that although engaging with God through play can feel like a stretch for some people, it is a good stretch. Consider for just a moment how often kids have to step out of their comfort zones to exist in the adult world. That being said, there are some things you can do to help make adults more comfortable, such as including and suggesting a variety of ways for engaging with the tasks, modeling, and explicitly encouraging adults to welcome and lean into their discomfort as a way of learning from children. Parents may be more comfortable engaging in play at home with their kids, so providing ideas and examples of how to do this can be helpful. Also, inviting people of all ages to share stories of how engaging play has helped them grow in faith can be very powerful.

• Imaginative prayer
• Retelling a Bible story through drama
• Using approaches like Young Children and Worship that incorporate manipulatives in Bible storytelling
• Creating worship bags with playful invitations and tools to engage in the practices of worship
• Engage in interactive and playful prayer

Imagine & create together

Not many of us would describe our participation in worship or our faith community as imaginative or creative, but perhaps we should. Ephesians 4 highlights the fact that God has given the church people so that everyone might be built up and equipped to minister as God has called them. From the oldest to the youngest among us, our imagination and creativity are a part of the gifts we bring to the church.